In the car, driving up to Yosemite National Park, I started playing with Brushes, a nifty iPad sketching app (OK, Ludlow drove, I fiddled with the radio, strummed the uke, and made annoying and quite rude noises at passing cows). Anyhow, my official review: super happy camper am I!

Here’s my first effort — a mascot for the “Yosemite Ukulele Rangers” (yeah, I was a bit unsure what a real park ranger’s hat looked like — fortunately the ranger at the park’s gate happily modeled hers for me).

I’ll do a bit more refining — should be a black bear, not a cinnamon, for example, but I’m too stoked about this app to not post this rough sketch.

Brushes (a trifling $7.99 on iTunes) is quite easy to use (intuitive, Photoshop-esque tools) and its ability to replay/export the “actions” (export a movie of the entire drawing process, stroke by stroke, as above) is an unexpected, but much appreciated feature. I’m already finding that I’m sometimes drawing for how the animation will look as much as the final resulting illustration — perhaps not a good thing.

I’ll drop this into Adobe Illustrator for the final illustration, of course, but this is a very fast way for me to work play.

I’m just now browsing the Brushes manual — some features I’d missed in my initial ad hoc playing (such as “hold-for-color-picking”) look terrific.

While this isn’t completely replacing those mechanical pencils, kneaded erasers, and pocket sketchbooks I’ve been toting around for past six years, it comes mighty close (I’ll continue pocketing Rodrigo’s now tattered 2 x 3 inch book whenever I go hiking, for example). Next week’s Drawing Club might be a worthy test — I’ve seen others there using Brushes with great success (not that the tool makes the artist).

So, would I recommend this app? Hellyeahs!

(don’t forget to buy a cheap-o stylus, too)

Recently I’ve been attempting the paperless switch, moving all of my ukulele songs onto the iPad. But, alas, that iBook bookshelf was fairly dull, far too many text-only PDFs — what was needed was variety, better still some classic book covers.  Recalling the fun Ben and I had last year doing alternate dust covers for his novel “Rise Again” (“Advanced Zombology, 2nd Edition” was my contribution) I decided to go for a retro-60′s textbook look.

The title, “The Id and the Ukulele: A Journey Through Personality and the Psychology of Obsession”, was picked wholly for how neatly it lays out, particularly the way “the ID & the U” pop. It even applies, a bit — the id being “the unorganized part of the personality structure which contains the basic drives”. Unorganized drive? Ukulele!

Hat tip to ↬ Andy Mangold for sharing his ᔥ hi-res book photos which I appropriated to texture my straw skimmer wearing uke-man character and title text (whipped up in Illustrator, composited in Photoshop).

Original sketch:

By request: an old timey silhouette of Cupid playing a uke — which, to my mind at least, makes considerably more sense for a matchmaker than the traditional version — that a flying toddler, naked save for a quiver of magic love arrows, stalks singles before firing one of said arrows into them (particularly the reluctant ones) who then — usually against their will, mind you — suddenly become quite smitten. That Cupid’s a little shit. A kid serenading two lovers with a ukulele? That tale’s at least 60% less disturbed.

It wasn’t too tough to talk me into this as, in addition to happily making the occasional anti-Valentine’s Day card, I’m also a quite the fan of silhouettes. So a quick pencil sketch (at right), bit o’ tracing in Illustrator and here’s the result…. plus black & white, outline-only, and PDF versions for you crafters.

Download “Cupid with Ukulele Silhouette” as (60kb Adobe PDF)

Oh, I did Google image search “cupid” (to size up the competition) and was surprised to see that some folks grant their Cupids halos, an attribute I don’t see mentioned anywhere. I did, however, stumble upon this terrific digest version of the Cupid-Psyche tale (a good read, indeed)

Obsessed? Nah. But I would like to help build up a decent library of freely available “clip art” for uke groups and enthusiasts of all stripes. Viva Creative Commons!

Cupid with Ukulele by Buz Carter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at pizzabytheslice.com.

“Moderation” — it isn’t in the ukulele player’s vocabulary, so why are you hesitating? You actually believe there are limits to the uke obsession? Puh-shah!! No way! Enjoy a stress-free Valentine’s Day: build your uke-crazed sweetie this heart-shaped ukulele box then fill it with See’s candies, jelly beans, an engagement ring, or Jake Shimabukuro tickets — whatever you do rest assured that ya done good.

Download “Ukulele Valentine Heart Box” template (532kB PDF)

Finished box with lid measures about 6” x 4” x 1.25”. Includes three sheets: box & lid plus truly garish interior pink-n-purple box “lining”.

I printed mine on 80 pound smooth paper and can attest that the resulting carton is a surprisingly sturdy beast — those interior strips really stiffen the structure.

Be forewarned! 45 minutes did I toil assembling this silly box, though I’m admittedly all thumbs when doing paper craft — glue covered thumbs, wrong bits stuck together; that level of ineptitude (rings oddly familiar, same can be said of my uke playing ). Heck, even basics — cutting along lines, folding straight edges — it’s all a challenge. Doodling artwork (Adobe Illustrator) on my new-ish MacBook Air while enjoying a brew at local coffee spots? That I can do.

"Uke Box" Prototype: overall scale and aesthetics check.

Some tips might be useful so here’s what I found helpful:

• Fold & glue the tuning pegs before doing your precise trimming.
• On the lid (the uke’s top) don’t worry about gluing all the way up to the edge, a bit of a lip is fine.
• Start attaching the sides with the headstock piece, beginning at the “V” where the head meets the fretboard.
• Once the fretboard sides are attached (don’t glue the very end bit as there might be some trimming required — I deliberately made the pieces longer than you should need) attach the body’s sides starting at the sharp point at the bottom of the heart shape — folding the sides in half and aligning the “V” to the point.
• Depending upon your paper stock you might need to “feather” the tabs a bit on the round corners of the head stock.
• Attach the lining sides first. The top & bottom lining pieces are larger than you need so dry fit, trim, dry fit, trim — until they fit snugly before gluing in place.

More dramatic lighting you say? Surely! Let me kick in the LED spots.

Oh, and for the record, I take extra pride in the slightly bowed frets and the tuning gears.

Ukulele (Valentine) Heart Box Paper Craft Template by Buz Carter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at pizzabytheslice.com.

Love rainy Fall days in LA — snow-capped mountains, clean air, and guilt-free excuse to hang indoors reading and doodle. Such was Sunday afternoon, and after downing a cup over at Jones Coffee Roasters, I wound up playing uke under the eaves of the South Pas Library, enjoying the crashing drum roll of water spilling from its gutters. While there I got this great advice from an elderly Japanese neighbor, a longtime ukester himself — from the 50′s: “On rainy day… play LOUD!!”.

Mele Kalikimaka! Joyeux Noël! メリークリスマス Froehliche Weihnachten! Maligayang Pasko!

I enjoy noodling with the oh-so-sexy uke’s shape, ’tis quite pleasing to draw. And within the ukulele family nothing tops the “pocket” ukulele’s exaggerated, peanut perfect proportions, besting even its more popular big brother, the soprano, for pure ukie-ness. Anyway, with the holidays upon us it’s time to post more uke love.

Choose between iPhone or iPad versions, as well as a 5 x 7 inch size suitable for printing as your Holiday card (so please put away that soggy Santa hat your dog’s been teething on for the past year and tell the neighbor you won’t need to borrow his chocolate Labrador this afternoon for your Christmas card photo). All formats available in Hawaiian, English, French, German, Tagalog and Japanese.

Languages

Choose your preferred language English, Hawaiian, French, German, Japanese, Tagalog or blank (for all you Scrooges out there)

“Happy Holidays” Ukulele

• iPad Wallpaper – “Old West” Holiday Ukulele (768 x 1024)
• iPhone Wallpaper – “Old West” Holiday Ukulele (640 x 960 pixels, fits classic & retina displays)
• Printable Card “Old West” Holiday Ukulele (5 x 7 inch)

“Mele Kalikimaka” Ukulele

And, of course, for our Hawaiian pals, Mele Kalikimaka:

• iPad Wallpaper – “Old West” Mele Kalikimaka Ukulele
• iPhone Wallpaper – “Old West” Mele Kalikimaka Ukulele
• Printable Card “Old West” Mele Kalikimaka Ukulele (5 x 7 inch)

“Joyeux Noël” Ukulele

Lest you French Canadians be disappointed, here’s… something in French:

• iPad Wallpaper – “Old West” Joyeux Noël Ukulele
• iPhone Wallpaper – “Old West” Joyeux Noël Ukulele
• Printable Card “Old West” Joyeux Noël Ukulele (5 x 7 inch)

“メリークリスマス” Japanese Ukulele Christmas Card

I’m super lucky to have some pals at my office who also love the uke — we sometimes play over lunch. One just recently moved here to the states from Japan, where he’d lived for 14 years since leaving China. Here’s our conversation today:

Me: How do you say “Merry Christmas” in Japanese?
Him: mmmnnn… “Merry Christmas”. What? We borrow.

• iPad Wallpaper – Merry Christmas Ukulele, Japanese
• iPhone Wallpaper – Merry Christmas Ukulele, Japanese
• Printable Card – Merry Christmas Ukulele, Japanese (5 x 7 inch)

“Froehliche Weihnachten!” (German) Ukulele

• Printable Card “Old West” German Ukulele (5 x 7 inch)

“Maligayang Pasko!!” (Tagalog/Filipino) Ukulele

• Printable Card “Old West” Tagalog Ukulele (5 x 7 inch)

“Plain” Ukulele

If you’d prefer a “clean” version of this uke (sans red bow and text), well, here ya go.

• iPad Wallpaper – “Old West” Ukulele (768 x 1024)
• iPhone Wallpaper – “Old West” Ukulele (640 x 960 pixels for retina display)

Other Versions ‘n Shop

I also have a hi-res versions on Flickr in my Ukulele Mania set.

Too lazy to print this at work? Fine. Cards available on Zazzle & CafePress (more stuff on Zazzle).

Want to use these images?

Part of a ukulele club and y’all want to use one of these for a songbook, invite, etc? Fantastic. Do it. Really. This is posted under a Creative Commons license so you’re welcome to use it for non-commercial purposes. If you do wind up using this, and are so inclined, drop me a line — I always enjoying hearing how this stuff gets used (it’s a vanity thing).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Colophon

Mockups made with free iPhone & iPad templates from intridea (iPad Wallpaper Template) and pixeden (iPhone 4G Mockups).

The font is Fatboy Husky from Wood Type Revival.

Ever wonder what it’s like inside your Jack o’Lantern? No? Really? Oh…

OK, did you just take a great shot of your prize winning pumpkin carving — Dr.Who on one side and Cthulhu on the other, but the exposure of its interior is blown out? This bother you… lots? Really? You, my friend, are truly obsessive — and my kind of Halloween geek.

Use this photo to fix your sad pumpkin photography mishaps. Just mask out your lost eyes and mouth(s) and use this cut-away pumpkin interior stock photo and all’s betterest (higher resolution up on Flickr).

Of course you can just print this on nice paper, too, I suppose… it is lovely in there, which still doesn’t explain the freakish nursery rhyme, however:

Peter , Peter , pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well

Have we stopped writing & passing along nursery rhymes? Is the short form gone? Ahhh, I digress.

(thanks, Brainz, for 24 Terrifying, Thoughtful and Absurd Nursery Rhymes for Children)

A while back Ben and I bought a couple ukulele kits from Grizzly Industrial (kits include cheap, unfinished plywood body, neck, fretboard, and a bag of gear & crap strings). With typically high hopes we set about designing — and lo, did the summer quickly pass. It’s Fall, Halloween’s just around the corner, and I’d like to knock mine out, so I’d thought this vampire bat ukulele would look great. Ben, ever the stick in the mud, thinks picking bat wing splinters out of your armpit (or crotch) just might interfere with playing. A fair point.

So instead I’ll be printing some of these out, double sided, and hanging them around my cube, perhaps fashioning a mobile. If you or your uke end up using this let me know.

This “ukulele merit badge” sporting Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, better known as Bruddah Iz, is only a test/rough-draft, the first from a set of about 30 badges that’ll appear on a site targeting novice to “advanced beginner” uke players (I’m more toward the low-end of that talent scale myself). The site’s gist is offering guidance — lesson plans and skill challenges to keep learning fresh and avoid burnout or that frustration from “getting stuck” or not knowing what to try next.

Though he passed some years ago Iz remains incredibly beloved in his Hawai’i and you’ll no doubt recognize his Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World cover. Checkout NPR’s profile of Iz on their “50 Great Voices” series. So familiar to the ukulele community is this song that… well:

Q: How many ukulele players does it take to cover a Bruddah Iz song?

A: Apparently all of them.

Oh, tip of the hat to Mayang’s Free Textures for the free hi-res cloth texture.

“I Crave Your Brains…
But Will Settle For Your Heart!“

P.S. Yes, I know, grammatically it’s “brain” , but everyone knows a singular v. plural argument with a charging zombie is pointless at best and quite ill timed at worst.